Tips ‘n Tricks »
Here you will find tips, tricks, and guides on various different topics, but mainly focused on computers.
NirLauncher: Portable application launcher for 100+ portable NirSoft (and SysInternals) programs
Made popular by his password recovery tools and maintained popularity with a boatload of lightweight, and portable utilities, NirSofer is a developer that makes dozens (hundreds?) of useful programs; some of which I am sure dotTechies have heard of or used in the past. In fact, a few NirSoft programs [...]
Read More »Convert .DOCX files to .RTF files with Docx2Rtf
Recently I posted about how to get Ashampoo Office 2008 for free. For all its good, the only problem with Ashampoo Office is it cannot read the new Microsoft Office 2007 formats (.DOCX, .PPTX, and .XLSX). So to help out those dotTechies who are using Ashampoo Office, I went looking [...]
Read More »TinEye: powerful reverse image search engine
Me 1: Remember that great background you downloaded a while ago?
Me 2: Yeah! Of course, I accidentally deleted it.
Me 1: Really? You deleted it? Oh.
Me 2: Yeah…. all I was able to find of it on the internet was a thumbnail.
Me 1: Wait- you were able
[...]
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Tweak your computer with registry hacks, Part 1: Introduction
In the past I have written a number of “How to” articles on dotTech explaining how to do various tasks, such blocking Flash ads in Internet Explorer. I’ve decided to continue with my series of “How to” articles. (Ignore the fact that this isn’t titled “How to”.) However, now I [...]
Read More »Wake up your computer from standby or hibernation, perform an action, and send it back. Automatically.
Being able to automatically make my computer come out of stand by has always been a novelty idea for me. Being able to make it come out of stand by and hibernation is like heaven. Being able to do tasks and send it back to standby or hibernation is like [...]
Read More »Computer crashes have you down? Test your RAM for problems with Memtest86+.
Computer crashes have you down? Random blue screens making you sing the blues? The problem could be your RAM. Try out Memtest86+, a free open source piece of software that runs stress testing on your RAM. Often when your computer randomly stops working, it can be the fault of a [...]
Use very user-friendly Tag2Find to tag and organize all your files
Are you an unorganized personality like me? Yes, I must say, it is really hard for people like us to keep track of all our files… especially the ones we download. I often find myself, amongst other things, downloading my lecture notes, and later being unable to find them because [...]
WirelessKeyView: Never worry about forgetting your wireless network security password/key ever again
The other day at work I overhead the following conversation:
Person1 with a new laptop that has not been connected to the wireless network yet:
“Do you know what the password is to the wireless Internet?”
Person2 with an older laptop that is connected to the wireless network:
“No I
[...]
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Can’t upgrade Internet Explorer 6 but still want to enjoy the wonders of the [modern] internet? Grab Google Chrome Frame (IE addon).
Internet Explorer 6 is the epitome of all things evil on the internet. Released in 2001, when the web was primitive compared to what it is todays, IE6 lacks the support for many new web development technologies. If you ever discuss IE6 with a web developer you may be subject [...]
Read More »Customize your Windows Explorer right-click context menu with FileMenu Tools
Back in July I wrote about Send To Toys – a software which allows you to customize the “Send To” submenu of your Windows Explorer right-click context menu. In a comment for that article APPitizer, a friend of dotTech, mentioned FileMenu Tools as being similar to, yet more powerful than, [...]
Read More »ManicTime: powerful time management utility that helps you keep track of how you spend your time on the computer
Update: When I wrote this article ManicTime was purely a freeware program. Now it has freeware and shareware editions.
“Welcome to The 21st Century. How may I take your order?”
“How about… 3 hours of sleep, 1 hour of eating, and 20 hours of computer!”
Seriously, in today’s day and [...]
Read More »Determine if your software and hardware are Windows 8 compatible with the Compatibility Center for Windows 8
Are you one of those techies who‘s eager to try out the Windows 8? Want to know if your hardware or software works with the Windows 8? Thanks to Microsoft, you can check out your product’s compatibility with the Compatibility Center for Windows 8.
What is it
The Compatibility [...]
Read More »Tip: Launch programs with hotkeys using native Windows functionality — no third party software required
The other day, here on dotTech, we covered a program launcher called Jumplist Launcher; and there are what it seems to be dozens of other launchers — one for every personal taste, I guess. There are even program that give you the possibility to launch programs with keyboard hotkeys. However, [...]
Read More »Need to encrypt your files? Let AxCrypt or TrueCrypt do the job for you.
File encryption is a tricky business. We all have some files that we would like to keep encrypted so they are kept out the reach of others. Yet, there are so many encryption software out there. Which one should we use? Which ones can we trust? (After all, we don’t [...]
Read More »Tip: Hide desktop icons to improve Windows startup performance
Long, long time ago in a bedroom not so far away I was booting up my laptop. As my laptop was loading Windows, I couldn’t help but notice the desktop icons took a good amount of time to appear. Then a thought hit me: What if I hide the desktop [...]
Read More »Tip: Testdrive Opera Next (Opera 12) without affecting your current Opera installation
Opera’s most recent stable version is the 11.61 and the next one will be version 12.00 (a.k.a. Opera Next). For those who can’t wait (or don’t want to wait) for the public release of Opera 12, Opera has has resealed an alpha preview that can be installed side by [...]
Tip: Quickly access your desktop by pinning a desktop menu to your Windows taskbar
You are working very hard on something really important (e.g. watching… Hulu) and all of a sudden you need to do a task that requires you to access your desktop. Or, maybe you aren’t working very hard on anything important (e.g. trolling dotTech) and you decide to do that one [...]
How to add a (simple) start menu to Windows 8 without third-party programs [How-To Guide]
A major change in Windows 8 is the lack of a Start Menu — you know the cornerstone of Windows since… forever. Because of this new change, many programs have cropped up to fill the void, allowing you to add a start menu to Windows 8. What if you don’t [...]
Speccy provides detailed information on what is under the hood (i.e. your hardware)
Quick, what CPU does your computer have? RAM? Hard drive? Audio card? Graphics card? What you don’t know? That is a darn shame. Sounds like you need to give Speccy a try.
Speccy is a Piriform – the developers of CCleaner – creation which provides detailed information on the insides [...]
Read More »NetWorx: Monitor your bandwidth usage to verify you’re being billed properly by your ISP
Many people run on what is known as a “bandwidth-limited” Internet connection (okay, I admit, I don’t know if that is the official name… I just came up with it on the spot); people on these plans are only allowed to use X amount of GB in regards to bandwidth [...]
Read More »Tip: Free-up hard drive space by decreasing space used by Shadow Copy Storage
Let’s start this article with a story. A little while ago, when I turned on my PC, I noticed one of my backup drives had significantly less free space than it should have (approximately 50 GB of space unused space was not available). I didn’t understand how this space was [...]
Easily search 14 popular video hosting websites (youtube, metacafe, veoh etc.) at once.
Update: New Ashampoo ClipFinder version (HD v2.01) is out with new features and a new look. Click here for more details.
Doing my usual reconnaissance of the internet I stumbled upon a free software that acts like a search engine for 14 popular video hosting websites. You can either search [...]
Read More »Learn JavaScript with free weekly courses from Codecademy
A lot of people want to know how to program but don’t know where to start. It’s a complicated and confusing topic, and there are hundreds of guides teaching dozens of languages. However, a new company called Codecademy has taken a lot of the uncertainty and doubt away from learning [...]
WARNING: BeeCloud going out of business, download your data now or lose it forever
A few months back BeeCloud gave away free 512 GB of cloud storage to all new users of its service. Being a LiveDrive reseller, at the time I stated:
[...]LiveDrive is a large and popular cloud storage service, so it probably won’t go out business out of the blue. Longevity?
[...]
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Tip: Avoid CNET Download.com’s ad-supported installer by using the Direct Download Link
Last year CNET started bundling an “ad-supported stub installer” with downloads on Download.com. This installer was CNET’s way to bring Ask Toolbar-like crapware bundles to CNET downloads. The installer wasn’t added to all downloads on Download.com but was added to enough downloads for people to take notice and come up [...]
Read More »How to block advertisements in Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Opera [2nd Edition] [Guide]
![How to block advertisements in Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Opera [2nd Edition] [Guide]](http://cdn.dottech.org/media/2010/08/2010-08-08_174021-290x160.png)
A few weeks ago we had a good discussion regarding advertisements. There are many dotTechies who are OK with advertisements; but there are also others that are not. Out of those that dislike ads, there are some that block ads and there are some that would like to block ads [...]
Read More »How to force Windows to use 100% of your network bandwidth [How-To Guide]
The speed of your Internet connection largely depends on external factors you cannot control. However, sometimes there are software elements that influence your connection speed. Once such factor is Windows reserving 20% of your network bandwidth for special QoS (Quality of Service), essentially capping you at [...]
Tip: Use Ctrl+Shift+Esc instead of Alt+Ctrl+Del to quickly bring up Windows Task Manager
I first learned about the joys of Alt+Ctrl+Del while watching my otherwise computer illiterate dad restart a frozen Windows 98 desktop. Ever since then I have been relying on Alt+Ctrl+Del to bring up Windows Task Manager, which allows me to fix issues like frozen programs. However, Alt+Ctrl+Del for Windows Task [...]
How to force Microsoft Excel to open files in new window [How-To Guide]
![How to force Microsoft Excel to open files in new window [How-To Guide]](http://cdn.dottech.org/media/2012/01/2012-01-15_1403101-290x160.png)
Often times you may find yourself in a position where you are using two or more Excel spreadsheets at the same time. You can, of course, use Alt + Tab to continually switch between the spreadsheets, or use Microsoft’s build-in secondary window function (you know, how you can minimize spreadsheets [...]
Read More »Get over 30 new freeware programs from DonationCoder’s NANY 2012
Each year DonationCoder, a website that promotes freeware/donationware software, holds a NANY (New Apps for the New Year) event where software developers from all around the world publish new freeware/donationware programs. NANY 2012 has seen the release of 34 programs of which a dozen or [...]
Read More »Tip: Easily open links in new tabs by pressing the scroll wheel on your mouse
I have been doing this for a long time now but it occurred to me some people may not know this nifty trick. Often times when I browse the web I come across multiple links that I want to follow. Since I can’t view multiple links in the same tab [...]
Sinde Law is Spain’s SOPA
Remember SOPA and PIPA? Well it looks like Spain is getting in on the action, too. Yesterday the Spanish Government passed new legislation – dubbed Sinde Law after former Spanish culture minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde – where copyright and intellectual property right owners can report suspected infringing websites to a newly [...]
Youtubian: Improve YouTube with a simple bookmarklet
Have you ever looked at the YouTube interface and thought, “this could use a face lift”? Or perhaps you thought, “a download link and some fancy drop shadows would be nice”. Well, then, let me introduce you to Youtubian.
Youtubian is a simple bookmarklet that can improve YouTube by cleaning [...]
Read More »Can’t access your favorite website but are not sure if the problem is at your end or theirs? Get a second opinion with DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com
It is happened to the best of us: we load up the computer to visit our favorite website and instead of being greeted with the familiar homepage, we get a 404 or connection error message. Before the withdrawal symptoms set in, it is always nice to know if the reason [...]
Read More »Note Mania: excellent sticky note app with unique features
During the summer I proclaimed Stickies to be one of the best sticky note application out there; and the praise for Stickies is well deserved considering how feature filled and easy to use it is (I especially like the ability of Stickies to share notes over a network). Note Mania [...]